Enter Philoftrate.

Phil. So please your Grace, the prologue is addrest.

Thef. Let him approach.

SCENE

[Flor. Trum.

I I.

Enter Quince, for the prologue.

Pro. If we offend, it is with our good will.
That you should think, we come not to offend,
But with good will. To fhew our fimple skill,
That is the true beginning of our end.
Confider then, we come but in defpight.
We do not come, as minding to content you,
Our true intent is.-all for your delight,

[you, We are not here.-that you fhould here repent The actors are at hand; and by their fhow, You fhall know all, that you are like to know. Thef. This fellow doth not ftand upon points. Lyf. He hath rid his prologue, like a rough colt; he knows not the ftop. A good moral, my lord. It is not enough to fpeak, but to speak true.

Hip. Indeed he hath play'd on his prologue, like a child on the recorder; a found, but not in go

vernment.

Thef. His fpeech was like a tangled chain; nothing impair'd, but all diforder'd. Who is the next? Enter Pyramus, and Thisbe, Wall, Moonshine, and Lion, as in dumb fhew.

Pro. Gentles, perchance, you wonder at this show, But wonder on, till truth make all things plain. This man is Pyramus, if you would know; This beauteous lady Thisbe is, certain.

This man, with lime and rough-caft, doth present

VOL. I.

M

Wall,

Wall, the vile wall, which did thefe lovers funder:
And through wall's chink, poor fouls, they are content
To whisper, at the which let no man wonder.
This man, with lanthorn, dog, and bush of thorn,
Prefenteth moon-fhine: For, if you will know,
By moon-fhine did thefe lovers think no fcorn

To meet at Ninus' tomb, there, there to woo.
This grifly beaft, which by name Lion hight,
The trufty Thisbe, coming firft by night,
Did fcare away, or rather did affright:
And as fhe fled, her mantle fhe let fall;
Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain.
Anon comes Pyramus, fweet youth and tall,
And finds his trufty Thisbe's mantle slain;
Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade
He bravely broach'd his boiling bloody breaft,
And Thisbe, tarrying in the mulberry fhade,

His dagger drew, and died. For all the rest,
Let Lion, Moon-fhine, Wall, and lovers twain,
At large difcourfe, while here they do remain.

[Exeunt all but Wall. Thef. I wonder, if the Lion be to fpeak. Dem. No wonder, my lord; one Lion may, when many affes do.

Wall. In this fame Interlude, it doth befall, That I, one Snout by name, prefent a wall: And fuch a wall, as I would have you think, That had in it a crannied hole or chink Through which the lovers, Pyr'mus and Thisbe, Did whisper often very fecretly,

This loam, this rough-caft, and this ftone doth fhew,
That I am that fame wall; the truth is fo.

And this the cranny is, right and finifter,
Through which the fearful lovers are to whifper.
Thef. Would you defire lime and hair to speak better?
Dem. It is the wittieft partition, that ever I heard
difcourfe, my lord.

Thef

Thef. Pyramus draws near the wall: filence!

Enter Pyramus.

Pyr. O grim-look'd night! O night with hue fo black!

O night which ever art, when day is not! O night, O night, alack, alack, alack,

I fear my Thisbe's promife is forgot.

And thou, O wall, O fweet and lovely wall,

That ftands between her father's ground and mine; Thou wall, O wall, Ofweet and lovely wall, [eyne. Shew me thy chink, to blink through with mine Thanks, courteous wall; Jove fhield thee well for this!

But what fee I? no Thisbe do I fee.

"

;

O wicked wall, through whom I fee no blifs
Curft be thy ftones for thus deceiving me!
Thef. The wall, methinks, being fenfible, fhould
curfe again.

Pyr. No, in truth, Sir, he fhould not. Deceiving me, is Thisbe's cue; fhe is to enter, and I am to fpy her through the wall. You fhall fee, it will fall pat as I told you. Yonder fhe comes.

Enter Thisbe.

This. O wall, full often haft thou heard my moans,
For parting my fair Pyramus and me.

My cherry lips have often kifs'd thy ftones:
Thy ftones with lime and hair knit up in thee.
Pyr. I fee a voice; now will I to the chink;
To fpy, an I can hear my Thisbe's face.
Thisbe!

This. My love! thou art, my love, I think.

Pyr. Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover's grace.

And like Limander am I trusty still.

Thif. And I like Helen, till the fates me kill.
Pyr. Not Shafalus to Pracrus was fo true.
Thif. As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you.

M 2

Pyr.

Pyr. O kifs me through the hole of this vile wall. Thif. I kifs the wall's hole, not your lips at all. Pyr. Wilt thou at Ninny's tomb meet me ftraightway?

Thif. Tide life, tide death, I come without delay. Wall. Thus have I Wall my part discharged fo: And, being done, thus Wall away doth go. [Exit. Thef. Now is the Mural down between the two neighbours.

Dem. No remedy, my lord, when walls are fo wilful to rear without warning.

Hip. This is the fillieft stuff that e'er I heard.

Thef. The best in this kind are but shadows; and the worst are no worfe, if imagination amend them. Hip. It must be your imagination then, and not theirs.

Thef. If we imagine no worse of them than they of themfelves, they may pafs for excellent men. Here come two noble beafts in a man and a lion,

Enter Lion and Moonfhine.

Lion. You, ladies, you, whofe gentle hearts do fear The fmalleft monftrous mouse that creeps on floor, May now, perchance, both quake and tremble here, When Lion rough in wildeft rage doth roar. Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am No Lion fell, nor elfe no Lion's dam: For if I fhould as Lion come in ftrife

Into this place, 'twere pity of my life.

Thef. A very gentle beaft, and of a good confcience. Dem. The very beft at a beaft, my lord, that e'er I faw.

4 Thef. Now is the mural down between the two neighbours. Dem. No remedy, my lord, when walls are fo wilful to HEAR without warning ] Shakespear could never write this nonsense; we should read-- to REAR without warning. i. e. It is no wonder that walls fhould be fuddenly down, when they were as fuddenly up; -rear'd without warning.

Lyf. This Lion is a very fox for his valour. Thef. True; and a goofe for his discretion. Dem. Not fo, my lord; for his valour cannot carry his difcretion, and the fox carries the goofe.

Thef. His difcretion, I am fure, cannot carry his valour; for the goofe carries not the fox. It is well; leave it to his difcretion, and let us hearken to the

moon.

Moon. This lanthorn doth the horned moon prefent. Dem. He fhould have worn the horns on his head. Thef. He is no crefcent, and his horns are invifible within the circumference.

Moon. This lanthorn doth the horned moon prefent: My felf the man i'th' moon doth feem to be.

Thef. This is the greatest error of all the reft; the man fhould be put into the lanthorn: how is it elfe the man i'th' moon?

Dem. He dares not come there for the candle; for you fee, it is already in fnuff.

Hip. I am weary of this moon; 'would, he would change!

Thef. It appears by his fmall light of difcretion, that he is in the wane; but yet in courtefie, in all reafon, we must stay the time.

Lyf. Proceed, Moon.

Moon. All that I have to fay, is to tell you that the lanthorn is the moon; I, the man in the moon; this thorn-bufh, my thorn-bufh; and this dog, my dog.

Dem. Why, all these fhould be in the lanthorn; for they are in the moon. But, filence; here comes Thisbe.

Enter Thisbe.

Thif. This is old Ninny's tomb; where is my love? Lion. Oh,

[The Lion roars, Thisbe runs off.

Dem. Well roar'd, Lion.